{"id":8695,"date":"2017-10-13T07:00:22","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T11:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=8695"},"modified":"2017-10-12T22:42:07","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T02:42:07","slug":"setting-the-record-straight-on-mcps-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=8695","title":{"rendered":"Setting the Record Straight on MCPS Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Council Member Nancy Floreen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Adam Pagnucco\u2019s recent post<\/a> on the County Council\u2019s budgeting work made an astoundingly misleading claim: \u201cThe County imposed seven years of austerity on MCPS [in FY10-16] while lavishing double-digit increases on nearly every other function of government.\u201d\u00a0 While I ordinarily ignore this kind of online misrepresentation of Council activity, this goes too far over the top to let pass.<\/p>\n

As Council President in 2016, I plead guilty to leading the charge for two tax hikes to support MCPS.\u00a0 The FY17 property tax hike enabled us to reduce class size and focus on the achievement gap; we exceeded the State-required Maintenance of Effort level (MOE) for the MCPS operating budget by $89 million.\u00a0 The recordation tax hike enabled us to fund key school construction projects that would otherwise have languished.\u00a0 We did this in a historic partnership with the Board of Education, which agreed to channel more of its funds to the classroom, and, bravely, less to employee compensation.<\/p>\n

Were the preceding seven years really a period of \u201causterity\u201d for MCPS and \u201clavish\u201d times for others?\u00a0 Consider the facts.<\/p>\n

1. The choice of base years matters. FY10 was an anomaly. From FY01-09, we had funded MCPS at a total of $576 million ABOVE the MOE level, thus creating a much higher required spending base.\u00a0 But no good deed goes unpunished.\u00a0 When revenues sank like a stone during the Great Recession, this higher base became an impossible burden, even after we approved a property tax increase in FY09.<\/p>\n

2. During the worst years of the recession, FY09-12, only two agencies \u2013 MCPS and Montgomery College \u2013 saw increased funding. To be sure, the increases were small (1.8 and 3.2 percent, respectively) and relied on higher State aid. But during this same period, vital County functions like Police, Fire and Rescue, and HHS were down 3.4, 5.0, and 14.7 percent, respectively.\u00a0 Recreation was down 23.5 percent, and Libraries was down 29.2 percent.\u00a0 These deep cuts were without precedent.\u00a0 The new spending base we were forced to create was so low that any later increase seemed disproportionately large.\u00a0 We consistently prioritized funding for MCPS and the College during this period.\u00a0 As the Rolling Stones would say, they didn\u2019t get what they wanted, but they got what they needed. This we could not do for the rest of County government.\u00a0 I was Council President in that awful time.\u00a0 There were furloughs for all County employees, including first responders.\u00a0 MCPS furloughed no one.<\/p>\n

3. The \u201causterity\u201d claim fails to account for massive additional County funding for MCPS that is not included in the MCPS budget or in MOE.\u00a0 So, for example, in FY18, we approved total expenditures for MCPS that include $2.37 billion for the MCPS operating budget PLUS $317.5 million more in the County budget.\u00a0 This pays for debt service on school construction bonds, pre-funding MCPS retiree health benefits, support services ranging from Linkages to Learning to crossing guards, and MCPS technology modernization.\u00a0 In FY13-16 alone, this additional County support totaled $1.08 billion.\u00a0 These dollars are not technically included in the MCPS budget, but they should be. To put the FY18 additional County support in perspective, this amount is larger than the total FY18 budget for Police, Fire and Rescue, or HHS.\u00a0 Again, this massive support for MCPS is all ABOVE the MOE level. And not counted.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Is the flip side of this alleged \u201causterity\u201d for MCPS in FY10-16 really \u201clavishing double-digit increases on nearly every other function of government\u201d?\u00a0 Tell that to one of our most important and beloved departments, Public Libraries.\u00a0 The libraries provide our one million-plus residents of all ages (including students from MCPS) with an ever-growing wealth of materials and technology.\u00a0 But the department\u2019s budget of $40.3 million in FY09 did not reach that level again until FY16, seven years later, even in nominal dollars.\u00a0 The FY18 level, $42.7 million, is barely equal to FY09 in real dollars. \u201cLavish\u201d indeed!<\/p>\n

5. One key fact is that 90 percent of the MCPS budget is for the salaries and benefits of active and retired employees. MCPS\u2019 benefits cost much more than the County\u2019s. If MCPS\u2019 employee share of health insurance costs was the same as the County\u2019s, the savings would be $24 million.\u00a0 Add to this the fact we alone in the State fund a supplement to MCPS employees\u2019 State pension benefit. This alone cost $25.3 million last year.\u00a0 The regular pension cost in FY18 is another $71.8 million, plus $56.8 million more for the State\u2019s shift of teacher pension costs.\u00a0 We also pick up the tab for pre-funding MCPS retiree health benefits (paid from the County budget, not the MCPS budget).\u00a0 This set us back $74.2 million in FY18 and is now projected to cost $547.8 million in FY18-23.\u00a0 Is that what you call \u201causterity\u201d?<\/p>\n

6. What really matters is the total MCPS budget, not the State share versus the local share. The higher State spending for MCPS in recent years reflects that the State\u2019s funding formulas, at long last, are starting to recognize our students\u2019 actual needs, as shown in our higher ESOL and FARMS populations. The State aid increases, which were long overdue, enabled us to provide continued strong support for MCPS during the Great Recession without further decimating every other function of government.\u00a0 Why is that not a good thing?<\/p>\n

7. In fact, a more complete and accurate comparison of FY10-16 tax supported operating budgets by agency shows that MCPS received a 12.9 percent funding increase compared to 13.0 percent for Montgomery County Government, 15.9 percent for Montgomery College, and 8.3 percent for Park and Planning. In addition, a significant portion of the FY10-16 increase of 803.9 percent in pre-funding retiree health benefits and 41.5 percent in debt service benefited MCPS!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As we go into an election year of hyperbole and catchy phrases, know that the Council, on which I have been so privileged to serve, is committed to thoughtful fact and policy based budgets, responsive to ALL our residents\u2019 needs. We are also constantly mindful of the burden that our decisions place on our residents\u2019 pocketbooks.\u00a0 MCPS will always need more support.\u00a0 Has it been singled out for unfair treatment \u2013 \u201causterity\u201d for MCPS and \u201clavish\u201d increases for everyone else?\u00a0 The facts say otherwise.<\/p>\n

Nancy Floreen has served on the Montgomery County Council since 2002.\u00a0 She was Council President in 2010, during the Great Recession, and again in 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Council Member Nancy Floreen. Adam Pagnucco\u2019s recent post on the County Council\u2019s budgeting work made an astoundingly misleading claim: \u201cThe County imposed seven years of austerity on MCPS [in FY10-16] while lavishing double-digit increases on nearly every other function of government.\u201d\u00a0 While I ordinarily ignore this kind of online misrepresentation of Council activity, this … Continue reading Setting the Record Straight on MCPS Funding<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[44,134],"tags":[1368,1475,1478,1539],"class_list":["post-8695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nancy-floreen","category-taxes","tag-budget","tag-mcps","tag-nancy-floreen","tag-taxes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4mKJE-2gf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8698,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8695\/revisions\/8698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}